Callings of the Past
by xxxRavensClawxxx
Summary: When a young alicorn is sent underground by his mother during an attack by rebelling pegasi, it seems she is killed by the magic bombs that ravage the land. But 100 years later, he finds that the Princess Luna could still be alive. Breaking all bonds to the safety of New Manehattan, he emerges to find a barren wasteland in what used to be Equestria.
1. Chapter 1

**Set after a holocaust in Equestria, enjoy! I don't own MLP, Hasbro does.**

**Chapter 1**

Sometimes, his intimidating appearance is just a mask. Seeing an alicorn in the midst of a shop full of flames and metal may terrify some, but often that was a false fear. Why did he like the smoke of the fire? It gave him an excuse to cry.

Nopony had gone to the surface in over 100 years. They were all scared to. Some were scared of the mutations from the initial droppings of the bombs that prowled the land. Others were scared of the fact that once you left, you were never allowed back underground. But not him. He was scared of the memories.

**100 years before…**

"Mother, aunties, why can't I stay?" A young alicorn asked. His cyan skin contrasted with the shadows of the chariot he was entering, and his brown-and-black mane got in his eyes, needing to be blown out. Four alicorns stood in front of him, the nearest being a dark-blue alicorn with a star-speckled mane.

"It's okay, son. I'll catch up with you later, but I have to stay here for a while. Don't worry." The dark-blue alicorn hugged the younger one, when a lavender unicorn stepped up.

"Luna, the longer you delay him, the more danger he is in." She said. Luna nodded to her fellow princess and stood up.

"Goodbye. I love you." She nodded to the guards, and the door was shut in front of the alicorn colt. He watched helplessly as the chariot was flown off. Suddenly, there were several streaks across the sky. Then a metal plate slid over the window, blocking his mother from the colt's view.

Hours later, he insisted he stay for a little longer to wait for his mother. The guards stayed with him, and he watched.

One guard saw a white object near the palace of Canterlot, and yelled something to the other guard. The colt was picked up, and despite his screams of protest, he was dragged through an opening. A large, bulky, metal door slid over the opening. Only a small glass window gave view to the outdoors.

All the alicorn could do was watch as the home he had once had - and all his family with it - were enveloped in flames.

**Present Day**

"Here you go, sir. That'll be eighteen bits." The same alicorn said. He was older now, looking about the size and build of a teenager. The old pegasus he was talking to paid the money required.

"C'mon." He said to the once-royal prince. "I know a place, the Bannered Mare. Come along, and I'll buy you a drink. Idiot managers don't know how to treat a hardworking employee." He muttered that last part. Not wanting to disappoint him, he followed close behind.

They walked through the dim streets of New Manehattan. There were stories of the original Manehattan, with buildings that gleamed in the sunlight. Sunlight was just a myth nowadays, but many ponies longed for it.

Finally, the two came to a tavern in the shadier part of town. Trotting in, the teen was greeted by a collection of sights and sounds. Smoke from pipes and cigars, the talk of anypony, from old friends to rivals discussing business. A yellow-coated unicorn noticed the alicorn and the older pony.

"Oi! Tom, he looks a bit young to be here."

"It's okay, Topaz." Tom shouted back. "He's with me. Just give him something that ain't as strong." The two pulled up to the bar, and a glass of a strong-smelling liquid was put in front of the alicorn.

"So," the pegasus asked. "What's your name?" The cyan alicorn almost didn't speak, but then thought he might as well give his name to this pegasus who buys drinks for complete strangers.

"Splintered Glass. You?"

"Oh, you know us bums don't have a name. Ponies just call me Ol' Tom. But I know more about you than you know, Splinter. It's not often you see an alicorn in the middle of a subterranean city! I thought you royalty were killed off."

Glass almost struck this homeless pony, then calmed down.

"No, my mother. She… she sent me away before the fires came. And I'm not royalty." He sipped at his drink, than winced and put it down. Stronger than anticipated.

"Look, kid. I know what happened to you. I was just a wee colt when the bombs went off, but I saw it. I'm close to passing on, being over a hundred years old. But listen here: Ponies can survive them bombs. Remember that." He suddenly got up and staggered out of the tavern, using his wings for balance.

After a few minutes, Splintered Glass got up and left to get back to the forgery for the rest of his shift.

That night, Glass was haunted by dreams. Visions came and went, images of his young childhood with his mother. He didn't know why he thought of these things, having had knowledge about the first attacks for years, but here he was, thinking.

In the middle of it all, he thought he heard a voice. A whisper more like it, beckoning him with two words.

"I'm waiting."

He jerked upright, his wings spread out in fear. He realized his door was open a crack, and threw on his glasses, even though his long brown-and-black mane hid his eyes from view. Realizing he wasn't going to be able to go back to sleep, he yawned and got out of bed to begin his day early.

At the forgery, he heard some older ponies talking during break time.

"I heard another pony got banished from underground."

"Tough. It's almost impossible to survive out there." This intrigued Splintered Glass greatly, not because of news of other cities other than New Manehattan, but because nopony ever talked about The Surface. All he knew was that it was dangerous.

He worked the rest of the day, yet everypony noted he was uncharacteristically quiet. Usually he laughed, talked, and goofed off the most of all the employees. But not today. He was too busy mulling over his dream.

_I'm waiting. _He thought to himself. W_aiting where?_

Finding the answer wasn't to far ahead.

"You're going to do _what_?" Glass' best friend asked at their lunch break.

"I have to. I can't stay here forever, you know that. C'mon, Gleam. You know I have to." Emerald Gleam pulled his oldest friend close to his face.

"Listen Splint. _Nopony _can survive out there. I had a cousin, you probably remember ol' Sparks. He left out while you were on a business trip in New Ponyville, and he never came back. We had that food shortage soon afterwards, and they found his dead body while scavenging. Looked like he was attacked by one of those mutations. Do me a favor, _don't _go out there."

Splintered Glass put a hoof on his friend's shoulder. Gleam had been introduced to the orphaned alicorn 35 years after the bombs, and they had been best friends ever since. But looking at him now, the cyan teenager knew he wasn't turning from his choice.

"I'm sorry. I have to." Gleam nodded, but a few tears trickled down his face as he turned away.

"Just… be careful."

This was it. The city council followed regulations for when a pony wished to go to The Surface. He was equipped with a standard-issue rifle, ammunition, a melee weapon, food and water for a month (if used sparingly), and a lamp. A small single-pony tent was loaded with his things, a gift from his friends.

"Good luck." Gleam said, slipping him a small bag filled with coins.

"40 bits? Where'd you get this?" Glass asked, putting the bag in his saddlebags.

"Oh, you know. The guys pulled it up. If you met somepony who was selling something." Glass nodded, and stepped on a lift. Looking down, he saw his friends, his home. Was he really going to throw it all away?

Yes. Yes he was.

"Send me up." He told the old stallion next to him. The Earth-Pony nodded, and the lift started upwards with the hit of a switch.

As soon as Splintered stepped off the lift, the door was sealed behind him.

"I'm sorry, lad. You're on your own now. Good luck!" The lift gently descended once more, and the teen was left utterly alone.

What was he doing? How stupid could he be? He abandons his home, his friends, his job. Severing all ties to what was safe. What was he doing? Why was he doing something so stupid?

_Nothing is stupid if it has a good purpose. _He thought silently. Then, taking a deep breath, he opened the door in front of him. Walking through, it sealed behind him. That left one more door.

"No turning back now." He said to himself. Then, in a somehow graceful motion, he opened the door.

The alicorn remembered when Princess Luna, his mother, still raised him. Playing in the sunlight and on the grass. After the bombs went off, he had been raised by Emerald Gleam's family, raised with stories of the sunny land of Equestria, ruled by the princess' Luna, Celestia, Cadance, and Twilight. Why had he expected that?

Of course any bombs that could force everypony underground must have a radius that could affect all of Equestria. And if it killed ponies, than it must be able to kill all life, trees and grass included. Of course nothing could be alive. He was right.

In front of him, for as far as he could see, was a barren, deserted wasteland. That would have been okay at first.

If it weren't for the bones.

Or the creature that hunched over and gnawed on the bones.

Buck.

**Alright! First chapter! What will happen to Splintered Glass? Will he find his mother? Is he truly alone in the barren wasteland that used to be Equestria? Find out next time on Callings of the Past!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay, so last time on Callings of the Past, Splintered Glass, the son of Luna, is living in New Manehattan, an underground city. As far as he knows, his mother is dead. One night, he has a dream that makes him think that Luna is still alive. Severing all ties to safety, he goes to The Surface, only to find a barren wasteland waiting for him. He is now already facing a danger: An unknown creature gnawing on some old bones. Tune in now!**

**Note: I will start calling Splintered Glass "Splint" or "Splinter" for now, but his friends will call him "Splints." Just so I don't have to write "Splintered Glass every few sentences.**

**Another note: Splint is a teenager at around 119 years old. How is this possible? Alicorns live much longer than normal ponies, almost not aging at all. After all, Luna was young still after 1000 years on the moon.**

**Final Note: I am in a writing contest with some friends. If my story gets more positive reviews, I get $15, which goes to my laptop fund. When I get it, I can upload stories quicker. So please read my story, Army of Ghosts.**

**Chapter 2**

The thing was about eight feet tall, with bones sticking out of it's back. Most likely it's spinal cord. It's face was hidden from view, but Splintered Glass thought it was safe to assume it had dangerously sharp teeth and good eyesight. A mutation.

Sniffing the air, the mutation whipped around and saw the teenage alicorn. Letting out a shriek, it charged at him.

_Oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap! _Glass thought to himself. Suddenly, he leaped into the air. He had only rarely used his wings, because the city of New Manehattan had a very dark ceiling, so Splint had never found out how high or low it was.

The mutation smashed into the metal door the ex-Prince had just exited. Letting out a bellow of rage, it wheeled around for another pass. This time, Splintered was ready. As the beast shot forward, he let out a magic blast that shot right through the left chest cavity. With a groan, whatever it was fell to the ground. Dead.

"What in Tartarus is this thing?" He asked himself, slowly trotting up to the body. After a quick poke with his horn, Splint was sure the thing was dead. Curiosity pricked at him, and he examined the body.

Inside the mouth were rows of sharp teeth. While examining these, a fleshy appendage fell out of the mouth and onto the dusty ground. Probably used to grab victims and drag them into it's gaping maw.

Extremely sharp claws donned the foot of each leg, but what sickened the alicorn the most was that there were hooves on the bottom of each leg. Or at least what used to be hooves. Could these mutations be… ponies?

Brushing it off, Glass got up and began trotting in the opposite direction. The stench of dead meat would probably attract more mutations, like moths to candlelight. What made the pony so lucky was his horn. Magic could be just as potent as a rifle, and it could make finding food and water easier. Alicorns did have a knack for magic used to help ponies.

Little did Glass know that there was more dangers than just mutations and hunger in the barren wasteland he was forced to trod upon for the rest of his life.

Four days had passed since Splintered Glass had left New Manehattan. Finally, he had found a sign of life. At least, it was a sign period.

"Welcome to Ponyville." The cyan alicorn read. A large welcome sign had been almost entirely buried in dust and gravel and sand, and it had tripped his tired feet. Food was easy, and water nearly as easy, but the main threat was exhaustion. The teen had walked for days at a time without rest.

Unfortunately, there wasn't anywhere to rest within sight. Sighing in frustration, Splint began walking again. In a flash, the ground underneath him gave way, and he fell down.

"Ow…" He muttered, rubbing his head with a hoof. Quickly lighting the darkness up with his magic, he looked around for a sign of where he was. It looked like… a library?

"Ponyville… Ponyville…" Glass thought hard and deep about the name. Then it clicked: This was where his aunt Twilight used to live! The library, it was Celestia's Royal Library. That meant that he was only…

He was only a days flight from Canterlot!

_No. _He told himself, as hard as it was. _Canterlot was where the bombs detonated. Everypony there is either dead or mutated, and you aren't ready to see your mutated friends and family. _He then set himself at looking for a way out of this underground area.

The roof he had fallen through had caved in, so he couldn't get back out that way. Looking for another way out, he spotted a paper on the desk. It was dusty and messed up, and mostly unreadable, but it was definitely a letter. Curiosity overcame him, and Splintered Glass trotted over to it.

_They're coming. The bombs, those horrible bombs. I had to make them, or they promised to kill my family another way, but… oh Celestia help us all. Those bombs will kill everything, not just the royal family. The most powerful magic has been infused with minerals from the Gryphon Kingdom, creating a potent explosive. I must get them back, or we will all die. This letter is to let the reader know that the princesses are in danger, along with all of Equestria. I will do my best to stop them, but if anypony finds this letter and I have not returned, then WARN CANTERLOT AT ALL COSTS!_

It was ominous and strange, but Glass could tell that this was written by the maker of the bombs. Who would do such a thing? Everypony knew that the Gryphon Kingdom mined explosive material, and magic infused with that could send a shockwave spell that affected everything. What spell?

_No… _Splint thought wildly. _She promised that that spell was gone forever! That only she knew it! And if only she knew it… then she… oh Celestia!_

He quickly sent an explosive shockwave at the collapse in the ceiling, and he shot out. Taking to the air for a while, he finally grew exhausted and fell back to the ground.

"It was probably just a letter used to frame her." He told himself as he pulled out some food and water. There was no way in Tartarus that his aunt would do that. Not a chance.

Once he was done, he got up to resume walking. Unfortunately, he had walked for four days with almost no sleep, and the exhaustion was too great. Stumbling a little farther, he collapsed and fell into darkness, losing all thoughts and leaving nothing left.

Finally, Splintered Glass woke up. Looking around, he saw that he was no longer in the open. He was in another dusty hole, but he could make out shelves and a staircase. When he got up, he was swamped by a spasm of pain.

Looking above him, Splint saw another hole in the ceiling of the room. Stupid abandoned city was full of these buried homes. This time, though, he noticed he was in a bakery. This must be the Sugarcube Corner he remembered so fondly, full of bright colors from the hyper pink mare that ran it.

Nopony was here now. The mare, Pinkie was her name, had died long ago. She joined the alicorn in New Manehattan and took care of him for a while, but some radiation had leaked into the supposedly safe city, and Pinkie fell victim to it. Splint was only 9 years old, a mere foal to alicorn time.

Glass felt a few tears on his eyes, and he wiped them away with a hoof, getting dust in his eyes. That just made more tears come from his eyes. Sighing, he flew up the hole. It was late evening, meaning he had been unconscious for a day or two. Luckily, since he had fallen underground, no mutations had been able to get him.

He began walking again, under the cool starlight. The bombs had changed everything. The day was light with a pale sun, and the night was lit by starlight only. The moon never rose, and the sun never strengthened. The day the bombs went off, the moon had rose for the last time. It rose a blood red, and everypony knew that meant one thing: Luna was dying.

Splint couldn't think about that, so he put his mind on location. If he was just leaving Sugarcube Corner, he was still inside Ponyville. He was walking in the opposite direction the door had been facing, so he was walking towards multiple cities. Most were small, but one town was bigger than the rest.

Princess Luna had always told Splintered Glass to stay away from one city in Equestria, one city out of many was forbidden to him. Now it was a safe haven. Splint hated going against his mother's wishes, but it was the safest place in this Celestia-forsaken country.

Taking to the sky, he flew with new strength to Las Pegasus.

**Done! I really am excited to bring Las Pegasus into this all, the city of gamblers. Anyway, we're going to let Splint go for a couple chapters and switch tracks to a new character, named Locker Wings! Until then!**


End file.
